Dyeing apparatus



Feb. 22, 1955 v. c. BOHM DYEING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 16. 1948- 1M ENTOR 1 MC 7-0,? 6.5mm

ATTORNEY United States Patent Q DYEING APPARATUS Victor C. Bohm, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.

Application July 16, 1948, Serial No. 38,993

2 Claims. (Cl. 68-43) This invention relates to dyeing machines for dyeing yard goods, and materials of endless length, irrespective of whether felted, knitted, netted or woven, in which the material to be dyed is caused to circulate in continuous length through the dye liquid during the operation of dyeing.

All of the known reel dyeing or winch dyeing machines and machines of this kind require a high speed of the reel or winch to produce level and even dyeing (speed of strand 70l00 yards per minute). Such a high speed causes a considerable lengthwise stretching strain and pull on the fabric being dyed which is detrimental to quality and construction and character of the fabric, irrespective of whether woven, knitted, netted or felted and also makes the fabric longer and narrower.

In order to produce even dyeing and penetration in such machines, the dyeing process requires a time considerably longer than the time necessary for the physico-chemical process of dye absorption by the fiber. In the case of application of acid and chrome dyes which are usually used for W001, casein and other nitrogenous fibers, boiling or near boiling temperatures have to be maintained for approximately one half of the dyeing time. Prolonged dyeing time, particularly at boiling temperature, and high stretching strain damage the material and tend to impart permanency to the wrinkles, and this often necessitates full width dyeing and excludes the otherwise more convenient rope dyeing.

The present invention is based on the discovery that yard goods-dyeing machines even open machines working under atmospheric pressure can be considerably improved if suitable provisions are made for a continuous stream of dye liquid intermingled with gas bubbles (air or some other gas such as nitrogen, carbonic acid and the like) which are non-condensable and non-soluble at the working temperature in the dye liquid, to impinge upon the fabric or the goods to be dyed during all or most of the dyeing time. According to the invention, such a reel dyeing machine, wherein the goods to be dyed are caused to circulate continuously through the dye liquid during the operation of dyeing, is provided in a suitable manner with a device for the admittance of air or gas bubbles, noncondensable and non-soluble at the working temperature in the dye liquid, to the goods to be dyed in the container or vat and with a device to produce a continuous stream of dye liquid intermingled with such gas bubbles to impinge upon the goods to be dyed during all or most of the dyeing time.

Such a machine has the effect and the advantage that level dyeing and even dyeing and also exhaustion of the dye bath can be achieved not only at lower temperatures than the boiling temperature, but also at much lower speeds of the strand of yard material, in fact at speeds of from to A2 of those necessary on the known machines, such for example as speeds of the strand of from 10 to 25 yards per minute. Such a lowering of the speed is of great importance in dyeing yard goods and the like. With the lowering of the speed, the stretching strain of the fabric and its detrimental effects may be practically eliminated or greatly reduced. It is also an advantage of such a machine made according to the invention that even dyeing and penetration of the dye stuff can be achieved with shorter dyeing time in spite of the reduced speed and the lower temperature.

In the case of application of acid and chrome dyes which are the usual dye stuffs for W001 and nitrogenous "ice fibers but which must be dyed at the boiling temperature or near the boiling temperature, the boiling can be reduced from /6 to /s of the shortened dyeing time, and in many cases entirely eliminated, depending upon the dyestufi used and on the raw material and the construction of the fabric to be treated.

In this manner, delicate fabrics and/or delicate colors can be dyed in rope-form instead of full width.

Since the used gas is neither condensable nor soluble at the dyeing temperature, some of the bubbles will adhere to the surface of the material to be dyed. It is necessary in order to achieve even dyeing to dislodge such adhering gas bubbles from time to time. In a reel dyeing machine with one reel only or with one reel and one guide roller only, this will be achieved to a satisfactory extent for most of the used acid and/ or chrome dyestuffs and for most of the fabrics in question. However, certain dyestuffs or certain fabrics may require measures for more frequent dislodgements of adhering gas bubbles. This can be achieved for instance as is the object of the inventionby squeezers.

In the drawings: I

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through the center of a machine embodying one form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a part sectional and part diagrammatic view of a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 4- is a top plan view thereof, parts being omitted.

Fig. 4a is a fragmentary detail view of the squeezer actuating mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on.the plane of the line 77 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 1 and 2 show a machine embodying one form of the present invention in a vertical cross-section and in a plan view respectively. As shown in the drawing, the vessel 10 is constructed with a hollow compartment 11 at one end for housing a device for the circulation of the dye liquid and for the production of a continuous stream of dye liquid intermingled with air or gas bubbles, for impinging upon the goods to be dyed during all or most of the dyeing time, the gas bubbles being produced by a gas non-soluble and non-condensable at the working temperature of the dye liquid. The compartment 11 is shaped similar to a trumpet which is shown in the drawing circular in cross-section in the upper part (see Figs. 5 and 6) and rectangular in the lower part (see Fig. 7). In the circular part there is arranged a propeller 12. 13 is a support holding the upper bearing of the propeller. 14 is a similar support holding the lower bearing of the propeller submerged in the liquid. 15 is the drive pulley (V-type) for the propeller. 16 is a roller which can be a driven roller or an idler roller. 17 is the usual reel. 16a, 16b and 17a, 17b are the respective bearings of any suitable kind for the roller 16 and for ther'eel17.

The drive for the. reel 17 or for the roller 16 and reel 17 is arranged outside of the vessel. The drive is a variable speed drive (not shown).

18 is an air pipe perforated in the lower quarter as shown at 18a. It is secured between an extension 19 of the wall dividing the vessel 10 from the compartment 11 and an upwardly inclined extension 20 of a perforated false bottom 21, the perforations 21' of which gradually increase in size from the edge A to the edge B so that approximately equal quantities of dye liquid intermingled with air or gas flow throu h equal areas of the bottom 21 regardless of Whether such area is nearer to the ed e A or to the ed e B. This stream of dve liquid is forced ast the perforated air pipe 18 where it is mixed and intermin led with air or gas bubbles and rising throu h the perforated false bottom 21 it impinges upon the goods to be dved.

Arrows C indicate the direction of fl w of the dye liquid when the propeller 12 is set in motion.

Dimensions, location and partial perfor tion of pi e 18 are such that sufficient quantities of air or gas will enter the vessel even at lower pressure for example 4-10 lbs. Such large quantities of oil-free air (or gas) as necessarycan be provided by a fan"'(preferably by a high pressure fan), rather than by a compressor.

For certainfabrics and for certain dye-stuffs (and chemicals, in the dye bath), it may be advantageous to produce additional motion and rearrangement ofthe fabric to be dyed. "This can be provided by reversing the propeller, for short periods so that the flow of dye liquid moves contrary to arrow C. During the reverse flow the air or gas should be shut off. Reversing can be made automatic at regular intervals.

22 is an offset perforated part of the wall of the vessel the perforations 22' thereof permitting the dye liquid to flow freely towards the propeller but preventing the strand of the fabric to be dyed from being sucked into the propeller tube.

f a machine as shown in Fig. 1 is used for rope dyeing, for instance three ropes R, the adjoining ropes tend to entangle with each other if the reel is operated at low speed. It does not happen if the reel is run at the high speeds used in the known machines. Therefore a machine according to the invention is provided with partitions 23 for rope dyeing as shown in the drawing. These partitions can be perforated, for example, with holes 23a (Fig. 1) of 2-4 inches diameter. According to the invention, the partitions are made in such a manner that they can easily and quickly be inserted edgewise in or removed from grooves in the inner surface of the vessel so that the same machine can be used for rope and full width dyeing.

24 indicates the top line of the dye bath. It can be as low or as high as desired according to the desired ratio of dye bath to goods to be dyed.

With certain delicate, thin and/or very tight fabrics, particularly at full width dyeing (less likely at rope dyeing), it may happen that the air or gas accumulates below the fabric forming big air or gas pouches which may carry a great part of the fabric to the liquor surface 24, thus preventing proper dyeing. For such conditions, it is preferable to provide a squeezing device.

In'Figs. 3 and 4, such an embodiment of the invention is schematically shown. 25 is a movable squeezer shown in dotted lines in the top position and 25a is the same squeezer shown in full lines in its lowest position.

The squeezer is for example made of metal sheet. 'In the drawing, it has a curved bottom 26 with perforations 26', solid side walls 27 and 28 which are connected from by a rod 29. The rod 29 is suspended on two wire cables 30 and 31 which are attached at 34 and 35 to a crank 36 (shown in side view in Fig. 4a). 36 rotates slowly in the bearings 37 and 38 (the drive is not shown), the squeezer alternates slowly between its extreme positions 25 and 25a thereby squeezing out air pouches which have developed in the fabric while the squeezer moved from 25a up to 25. The cables will permit the squeezer enough freedom to swing so that the fabricmoving from the perforated bottom-21 up to the roller 16 cannot be obstructed or torn. The eccentricity of the crank 36 may be made variable as well as the length of the cables 30 and 31 so that the squeezer can easily-be adjusted for different fabrics or different loads of the machine.

1 Fig. 3 corresponds to Fig. 1 but some of the details shown in Fig; 1 are not shown in Fig. 3;

I claim:

1. A hollow vessel having a solid bottom wall and a As the crank perforated false bottom wall above said solid wall, a gas inlet leading into the space between the solid bottom wall and the perforated false bottom wall, a compartment at One end of the vessel communicating with the space between the solid bottom wall and the perforations in said false bottom wall and having a perforated wall portion at its upper end communicating with the interior of the vessel, a propeller device in said compartment for forcing the mixture of gas and, dye liquid through the perforations in the false bottom wall to the interior of the vessel, and a crank, device including a crank shaft operatively connected to a source of power, a pair of cables secured to and depending from said crank shaft in the liquid in the vessel, and a curved perforated plate secured to the bottoms of the cables for compressing he goods being dyed for dislodging gas bubbles there rom.

2. Dyeing apparatus comprising a hollow vessel having solid side, end and bottom walls and an open top, a false bottom wall spaced inwardly of the solid bottom wall and having spaced perforations therethrough, a transverse wall in the vessel at one end thereof having its upper edge below the upper end of said vessel and extending downwardly to the false bottom with the false bottom terminating at the lower end of the transverse wall to form a compartment between the side walls and adjacent end wall for receiving dye liquid, said compartment being open at the bottom and communicating with the space between the solid bottom wall and the false bottom wall, one of said side walls having an opening adjacent its lower end, a single pipe extending inwardly through said opening at the lower end of said transverse wall and terminating at and communicating directly with the entrance to the space between the bottom walls and spaced from the end wall for intermingling a supply of non-condensable and non-soluble gas with the dye liquid in the compartment, a propeller in said compartment for forcing the mixture of gas and liquid through the space between the bottom walls, upwardly through the perforations in the false bottom wall and over the upper edge of the transverse wall and downwardly through said compartment, means for rotating the propeller. and means for carrying the goods to be dyed through the bath.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 985,695 Palmer Feb. 28, 1911 1,076,305 Morris Oct. 21, 1913 1,098,937 Buck June 2, 1914 1,127,606 Ellis Feb. 9, 1915 1,176,953 Fritz Mar. 28, 1916 1,220,268 Payet Mar. 27, 1917 1,466,678 Taylor Sept. 4, 1923 1,874,398 Weise Aug. 30, 1932 2,118,807 Carter May 31, 1938 2,412,188 Wolfenden Dec. 3, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS 84,539 Germany Dec. 21, 1895 177,610 Germany Nov. 8, 1906 151,420 Great Britain Sept. 30, 1920 257,160 Great-Britain Aug. 26, 1926 422,825 Great Britain Jan. 18, 1935 

